Dharamshala, 28th January: On Thursday, China’s top diplomat spoke with his US colleague, advising Washington to “stop interfering” in the Winter Olympics and emphasizing the importance of “taking seriously” Russia’s security concerns in Europe. US-led diplomatic boycott over China’s human rights record, particularly its treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region, has hampered preparations.
During a phone call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, foreign minister Wang Yi said that the most urgent priority right now is that the US should stop interfering in the Beijing Winter Olympics. On the Taiwan problem, he continued, Washington must “stop toying with fire.”
The Olympics were not mentioned in the State Department’s summary of the call, which instead focused on Ukraine.
“Secretary Blinken underscored the global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine and conveyed that de-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward,” the statement read.
As tens of thousands of Russian troops have been stationed along the border in recent weeks, global concerns about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine are mounting. In response, the United States and other NATO members have been engaging in intensive diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent days, as well as offering military support to Ukraine. The United States and its NATO allies have stated that they are prepared for any scenario.
Russia, which has had a tumultuous history with Ukraine, has fostered an insurgency in the former Soviet republic’s east that has claimed the lives of over 13,000 people since 2014. Following the fall of a government in Kyiv that had rejected efforts to draw closer to Europe, Russia grabbed Crimea in the same year.
China frequently rejects “foreign meddling” in the governance of other countries. But it has been especially hesitant to speak out against Russia, a close strategic ally and fellow permanent member of the United Nations Security Council who frequently finds itself at odds with the same western powers as China.